Banquet of the Moon

His footsteps echoed loudly down the empty hallway. Soon the full moon would be just overhead; soon, their 'banquet' would begin. Quicker, he had to get there quicker.

The man in the cloak quickened his pace through the empty halls of the citadel, bursting his way through the doors to the meeting room.

Sitting at the round table were two figures all too familiar to him. His sister, scarlet, welcomed him to their meeting.

"Dear brother," Scarlet said as she gestured to the one empty seat, "have a seat; our discussions are just about to start."

"Thank you, sister." The man responded quietly as he took his seat. Across from him, his brother Shade stared blankly through his robes. He had seen that gaze once before when he had killed the remaining humanity within him.

The full moon passed overhead, filling the room with its crimson light. Scarlet snapped her fingers, causing all the lanterns in the meeting room to extinguish, leaving only the hue of red against the white marble construction.

"Now then, let us begin," Scarlet spoke with a sinister smile. "The time soon comes for the banquet to begin. The human lives of the city, It's time we bring them to an end."

"That will be a problem...sister," Shade spoke, his voice drawn out and whispy. "A guardian has risen...A human using our light. They reside...In brother's domain."

Shade turned his attention to the cloaked man with a blank stare.

"How have your plans been going, brother?"

He swallowed hard. Shade must have known somehow about his lack of negative feelings towards humans.

"The human in question ruined my plans. The creature I sent to kill prime targets of becoming Red Moon Seekers was taken out swiftly by a human using the light."

Scarlet's smile never faded. On the contrary, she seemed delighted at this news.

"Well...Isn't this an exciting development? A human capable of willingly wielding our power? This could be the undoing of our plans, now, couldn't it."

Shade stepped in once more, in the place of his brother's speechlessness.

"I have seen one weakness in this girl. She has a friend, another girl by the name of Ruby. Her power only manifested to save that girl, ruby. If we remove her from the equation...she will be helpless to stop our plans."

"No, not yet," Scarlet responded, seemingly having her own plans. "I want to see just how strong this human really is. To freely hold the grace of luna like that has piqued my interest.

"Sister, I really think we should dispa-" Shade tried to interrupt but was immediately shot down with a glare from Scarlet. "Yes...That is a good idea, sister..."

"Your inputs, Disciple?" Scarlet turned her head to the cloaked man.

"I agree that we should do a bit of experimentation on this human. Should It turn out that Luna graced them purposefully? That would spell disaster for us."

"Then it's settled. Our banquet this time will not be one of blood...but one of knowledge. We three will witness the rise and fall of a rouge child of luna," Scarlet raised her hands to the moon joyously. "Praise Luna for giving us this occasion to feast on!"

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Disciple quickened his pace down the hall. This was terrible, so very terrible. How did Shade know about the human? Had his brother overstepped boundaries and started spying in his city section?

This was getting in the way of his plans. The new era would not begin if his brother and sister had started meddling with that girl.

That's right; he had to reach them first. He couldn't allow his siblings to get in the way of the dawning new era. Their devotion to Luna had led them astray from the path of truth.

It was true that 75 years ago, the world had crumbled due to lunas changing. Her brilliant white had become a scarlet red. There had to be more to the story, though.

For thousands of years, Luna guided travelers of the night. For thousands of years, his brothers and sisters in religion, the children of the moon, had used the grace of Luna to enact its will.

And yet, 75 years ago, Luna turned its back on the people it gave guidance to and those who served it...why? Why would Luna just suddenly send the world to Its doom? There had to be a reason.

And this girl, Sakura. She was proof of the old ideals. She was proof that a fragment of Luna's brilliant guidance still existed. Proof Luna still wanted to protect humanity as it had done since the dawn of history.

The other children of the moon had been so quick to accept Luna's new crimson hue, but he was different. He knew that there was something beneath the surface that had been playing a game with all of them. Something had its crimson tendrils wrapped around Luna.

His brother and sister would never believe him. No, they'd likely execute him for questioning the choices of Luna, questioning the choices of damning humanity to its extinction.

He may have lost everything: his brothers, his sisters, his true family, his humanity. But this girl, she held everything he had once lost. Luna had a plan to bring back its guidance, and if following its true plan meant forsaking the current beliefs...so be it.

The new era was beginning...and now was the time to choose sides. All he could hope for was that he was choosing the right side.